USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Millbury > Centennial history of the town of Millbury, Massachusetts, including vital statistics, 1850-1899 > Part 29
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"A cartoon, entitled 'Men of Progress,' was published in Phil- adelphia by Munn & Co. in 1863 on which are represented the most distinguished American inventors of the present century, and among them may be found a good picture of the late Thomas Blanchard. No one in that galaxy of geniuses more justly deserves the honor. Some of them, such as Morse, McCormick, Howe, and Goodyear, have made single inventions which have perhaps attracted more public notice than any one of Blanchard's, but it may be questioned whether another inventor can be named in this country or in Europe, during the last century, who has pro- duced so many different labor-saving machines, applicable to such variety of uses, and which have contributed so largely to the com- mon necessities, comforts, and economies of life. This language may seem extravagant, but it must be remembered that not an armory exists in this country or in England where guns are made -hardly a human being that wears boots and shoes-scarcely a vessel that sails upon the ocean-not a school where slates are used-not a carpet laid down, but that owes tribute to the genius of Thomas Blanchard for producing articles cheaper and better. The same may be said of carriage wheels, plows, shovels, and
THOMAS BLANCHARD 1788 - 1864
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various articles of furniture. Latterly, his machines have been applied to carving, to architectural designs, and even to statuary -much to the surprise of the artists. Indeed, there seems to be no limit to the uses made of Blanchard's inventions, and it is impossible at present to enumerate them. One can hardly go into a tool shop, a machine shop or a work-shop of any kind, wood or iron, where motive power is used, in which he will not find more or less of Blanchard's mechanical motions."
Thomas Blanchard was born June 24, 1788, in that part of Sut- ton which was called the "Oxford Gore" and was later set off to Oxford. He was of French origin being descended from the Huguenots who settled in that town to avoid persecution and from them he inherited a taste for mechanical pursuits in which they were proficient. His father, Samuel, was an industrious farmer who cultivated the strip of land on which his home was located and maintained a country blacksmith shop. The mother, Susanna, a native of Rowley, Mass., was the daughter of Daniel Tenney. To them were born eight children of whom Thomas was the sixth.
As a boy Thomas Blanchard was tall for his age, awkward in appearance, and indifferent to the general information to be de- rived from books. Indeed, many called him simple-minded, but his mechanical tastes were evident in the making of wooden toys, such as wind-mills and water-wheels, and it was reported that he would entertain himself by the hour with a piece of wood, a knife and a gimlet. When only nine years of age he attempted (unsuc- cessfully, as might be expected) to construct a forge for welding iron, as he had seen his father do. At the age of thirteen, or later, he invented an apple-paring machine that elicited local wonder and undoubtedly encouraged him in his attention to labor-saving devices.
The first invention of Mr. Blanchard that gained wide atten- tion was perfected when he was eighteen years of age. He was at the time employed by his brother Stephen at the shop in West Millbury where tacks were slowly made by hand. Here he studied tack-making and invented his machine on which five hundred tacks could be produced in a minute with better finished heads and points than those made by hand. At the age of twenty-four he sold this invention for five thousand dollars, a large sum to him at the time, but a very small amount for such a revolutionary invention.
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Mr. Blanchard's most famous and most valuable invention was the eccentric lathe for turning irregular forms. Millbury is especially concerned in the creation of this production, as it has commonly been stated that the United States armory at Springfield was the birthplace of this valuable machine. The invention was assigned there, possibly because of Mr. Blanchard's later connec- tion with the establishment and the later supplements to the machine that were produced there. As a matter of fact, however, the eccentric lathe was invented and first constructed in Millbury and, after its invention here, the first machine to be set up in the Springfield armory was carted over the roads from Millbury by Mr. Horace Waters. After another was made like it for the Spring- field Armory the original lathe was returned to Millbury where it was used for about twenty years in the Waters Armory.
The entire machine in its perfection did not come at once into Mr. Blanchard's mind as he was about two years at work upon the first model. Various anecdotes have been related purporting to reveal the development of the working of the idea in his mind, but if we leave it to the psychologists and to the recording angel to give us the exact sequence of his ideas in the development of his conception, we are still assured that it was at the armory of Asa Waters in Millbury that Mr. Blanchard was taken by the propri- etor who had himself invented a lathe for turning the gun barrels round but who sought a machine for turning the breech end of the gun which was flat on the sides and round on the top and bottom. As a result of Mr. Waters' efforts in directing the attention of young Blanchard to the turning of the gun barrel Mr. Blanchard developed the idea of the eccentric lathe which, after some study, he elaborated in a model. He secured a patent on the machine September 6, 1819.
After the machine had been put in operation for gun barrels it was applied to the turning of gun-stocks and afterwards to the turning of many kinds of irregular forms.
Major J. W. Wright, who was long employed in the Armory Works, as machinist, clerk and superintendent, under date of Kalamazoo, Mich., April 27, 1886, wrote Col. Asa H. Waters as follows :-
"To turn the irregular shape of the butt baffled all the efforts, and defied the ingenuity, of all the mechanics, in all the armories. After laboring long
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and hard on the problem, Mr. Waters, hearing of a budding genius in a neigh- boring district, sent for him to come to his armory, and see if he could suggest something. He came and soon after produced a model for a very peculiar and entirely original 'Cam Motion' which relieved the difficulty at once. To reduce the forged butt to proper shape cost, in labor and files, a dollar on each gun; and this motion reduced the expense more than half. One of the stockers, while watching the operation, said, 'Blanchard has robbed you of your job; but he cannot rob us of ours, for he cannot turn a gunstock.' This young man since famous as Thomas Blanchard, modestly replied, 'I'm not so certain of that.' His mind being thus directed to this matter, after the study of a year or more, he brought to the armory of Mr. Waters a wooden model four feet long for a machine to turn a gunstock. The expert mechanics thought favor- ably of it, and a full sized machine was built. Some of the United States inspectors on service at the armory at the time wanted it sent to Springfield for examination and trial. Blanchard consenting, it was carted to the armory there by Horace Waters. It remained long enough to build another similar, was then returned to Mr. Waters' armory, and there remained in use many years. While in the employ of Mr. Waters, I married the niece of Thomas Blanchard, and thus was brought into close and intimate relations with both. I had frequent conferences with Blanchard upon his various inventions, and was often requested to aid him in his suits for infringements, which were unending. (Signed) J. W. WRIGHT."
The principle of this machine, as we learn from the Encyclo- pedia Americana, is "that forms are turned by a pattern the exact shape of the object to be produced, which in every part of it is successively brought in contact with a small friction wheel; this wheel precisely regulates the motion of chisels arranged upon a cutting wheel acting upon the rough block, so that as the friction- wheel successively traverses every portion of the rotating pattern, the cutting wheel pares off the superabundant wood from end to end of the block, leaving a precise resemblance of the model. This remarkable machine, with its modifications and improve- ments, is in use in the national armories as well as in England."
Mr. Blanchard was afterwards employed at the armory in Springfield where he added other machines (thirteen in all) to the one already invented, so that the stock of the gun could be made entirely by machinery and fitted to receive the metal parts.
Mr. Blanchard was one of the inventors that were then at work in developing uniform parts to a gun, so that the broken pieces on a battlefield could be fitted together. In these efforts inventors were opposed by hand laborers but out of the efforts put forth there was developed as a practical reality the interchangeability of parts. This was extended to the manufacture of watches and of other mechanical contrivances.
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In 1825, Mr. Blanchard built a steam carriage that was a fore- runner of the automobile of today.
From 1826 until 1830 he was employed in the construction of steam boats on the Connecticut River and he designed water craft that would ascend the swift waters of that river. He also invented a machine for cutting and folding envelopes. He perfected a process by which heavy timbers were bent without losing any of their strength and this has been applied to lighter wood as well.
In 1834, Mr. Blanchard was granted a renewal of his patent on the eccentric lathe after a contest in which an attempt was made to deprive him of the honor of the invention. When the second patent had expired he applied for a third time to Congress stating that because of his expenditures in defending himself against infringements he had realized very little on the invention. He was strongly opposed in his efforts before Congress and the re- nowned Choate was employed to defeat him. Meanwhile, Mr. Blanchard secured plaster casts of several men eminent in Ameri- can life, including several members of Congress, and from these casts as models he turned out similar busts from wood. This greatly impressed the members of Congress and Choate wittily remarked that "Blanchard has turned the heads of Congress and gained his point." In the senate Daniel Webster introduced a motion for a renewal of the patent and this was amended so that Mr. Blanchard was given the patent rights on his invention during his lifetime.
In 1841, Mr. Blanchard moved to New York City where he remained for two years. In 1843, he moved to Boston where he resided until his death which occurred April 16, 1864.
Blanchard Hall, situated on the ground floor of the Town House, was named in his honor.
DR. ROBERT BOOTH
Dr. Robert Booth, for more than thirty years a successful phy- sician in Millbury, was born in Ireland, Sept. 20, 1840, being the youngest of nine children. His early life was spent on a farm in his native country. When seventeen years of age he emigrated to America, landing at New York after a voyage of seven weeks, and proceeded soon to Millbury. He was first employed as an operative in the woolen mill of Nelson Walling where he worked for a year. He then joined his brother in Canada and taught in
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the public schools, at the same time preparing himself for his medical studies which he took at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1867.
Dr. Booth practiced medicine first at Blackstone, Mass., where he remained eight years after which he moved to Millbury and resided here from that time. His practice became extensive and he increasingly gained the respect and affection of the people of the community. Besides his private practice he was physician for Court Millbury, F. of A .; Fraternity Circle, C. of F. A .; and Division 9, A. O. H.
Dr. Booth served the town with fidelity in many positions of honor. He was a member of the board of selectmen in 1891 and 1892 and again from 1896 until 1901. In 1910, he was elected on the school committee for three years but died before the expira- tion of his term of office. For several years he was on the board of health and was its chairman at the time of his death. He was active in securing public improvements including the building of sections of state highway and the extension of the Blackstone Valley Electric Railway to Worcester.
Dr. Booth was a member of the Foresters of America. In politics he was a democrat, but he received the support of many in local affairs regardless of party distinction.
Dr. Booth in 1894 married Josie Little. He died in June, 1910.
ROLAND E. BOWEN
Roland E. Bowen, former postmaster of Millbury, was one of the most noted checker players of the country. He met many other famous players of this and other countries and was very successful in his contests.
Mr. Bowen was a member of that old fighting regiment, the Fifteenth Massachusetts. For a time he was a prisoner in the famous Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia. He was a popular member of the local Post of the G. A. R. and was esteemed highly in the community.
BENJAMIN BRIERLY
Benjamin Brierly, like James Brierly, was for many years a well-known citizen of the town. He was prominent in the First Congregational Church, and labored faithfully for the moral and
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spiritual elevation of the community. Mr. Brierly was twice married, his second wife being a sister of the Hon. Henry L. Bancroft. For a time he was engaged in business in Worcester.
JAMES BRIERLY
James Brierly, formerly a cotton manufacturer, was also, in the fifties, engaged in making paper at the old Burbank Mill in Bramanville. He was among the most respected citizens of the town, a man of strict integrity, and commanded the esteem of his associates. His useful life added much to the material prosperity and moral elevation of the community.
CHARLES BUCK
Charles Buck, edge-tool manufacturer, was descended from a family that had long been engaged in this occupation. He was born in Sheffield, England, where as a youth and young man he mastered the processes involved in the manufacture of edge-tools. After emigrating to America, in 1850, he was employed at Roches- . ter, N. Y., and later he worked at the Old Junction shop in Wor- cester, Mass. While at Worcester, in 1853, with his brother, Richard T., under the firm name of "Buck Brothers," he began the manufacture of edge-tools, especially chisels. In 1864 the industry was moved to the Andrus March privilege on Dorothy Stream, Millbury. At the beginning Mr. Buck had little capital, and the rise which he later made to industrial and business success was largely due to his own efforts. In 1873, Mr. Buck withdrew from the firm of Buck Brothers and established a separate industry (see Chap. XX.) on the Grafton Road, where he manufactured edge-tools of the highest grade.
Mr. Buck was a member of the Methodist Church for nearly fifty years and for a considerable period was a class leader and superintendent of the Sunday school.
RICHARD T. BUCK
Richard T. Buck, born in 1832, was a native of Sheffield, Eng., a place noted for the manufacture of cutlery. He was educated in the schools of his native town, and graduated from the People's College. After learning the trade of a tool-maker in his native land, he came to this country and located at Worcester, Mass., in 1853.
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Mr. Buck was a man of strong personality and strict integrity. He was a loyal and liberal member of the Second Congregational Church. He was a successful man of business, a good judge of men, and an able financier. As trustee of the Millbury Savings Bank his advice helped to make that institution then and now one of the best in the state. Mr. Buck took great interest in "Buck's village" which he was instrumental in founding and in the welfare of its inhabitants.
His wife, Miss Elizabeth Edge, came from Manchester, England, and like him, she was interested in the welfare of the community. Their good deeds exemplified their Christian belief and character, for their lives here were a blessing to the community. Mr. Buck died in 1893.
(See Buck Bros., page 276.)
MAJOR-GENERAL CALEB BURBANK
Maj .- Gen. Caleb Burbank was descended from John Burbank who settled in Rowley, Mass., about 1640. He was the eldest son of Capt. Abijah Burbank and was born in Sutton, July 18, 1761. As a youth he worked on the farm of his father and learned the art of paper-making in his father's paper mill at Bramanville. (See "Industries on the Singletary.")
It was as a paper manufacturer that General Burbank was best known in the industrial world, although he also owned a part in most of the other mills on that stream. He greatly steadied the outflow of the water from the pond by raising its level several feet and he also built a storage basin for the paper-mill. When it had passed into his possession he added both to the quantity and the quality of the output of paper from the paper-mill.
General Burbank was in the prime of his manhood when Mill- bury was set off as a separate town from Sutton and at the time he was probably the richest and most prominent man in the new town. He selected the name "Millbury" for the town and, apparently by his sole influence, prevented the adoption of some other name (see Annals, 1813).
In personal appearance General Burbank was of medium height, about one hundred and forty pounds in weight, erect, and moved with a martial step. His portrait, done in oil colors, is displayed in the Public Library. Col. A. H. Waters in his copy of the "His-
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tory of Sutton," made the following note concerning General Burbank, "General Burbank was for many years a conspicuous character. He always came to church at the 'Old Common' in a hack drawn by a span of white horses with a driver and surround- ed by a bevy of young, beautiful girls whom he employed in his paper mill works. He was generous, public-spirited and kind- hearted." He was reputed to have been exceedingly generous. As an instance we may cite that, when the house of Stephen Blanch- ard was burned, General Burbank went the next day to view the ruins and at the time presented Mr. Blanchard with one thousand dollars as a help toward rebuilding. Although a man of a kind disposition General Burbank is reputed to have been strict in his military and business affairs. He loved the pomp attached to his military rank and undoubtedly exercised his command with un- compromising rigor.
For twenty-eight years he was an officer in the state militia. He was commissioned lieutenant, in 1790; captain, in 1794; major, in 1797; lieutenant-colonel, in 1801; brigadier-general, in 1807; and major-general, in 1813. Five years later he was dismissed from the service.
General Burbank built a residence, pretentious for those days, on Burbank Hill (see chapter on "Old Houses").
In his old age the General met with financial reverses, but it is to the credit of Millbury officials that, in consideration of what he had done for the town, a comfortable home was secured for him in the family of Deacon Tyrus March.
(See Genealogy.)
(See Industries on Singletary Stream.)
GEORGE LEWIS CHASE
George Lewis, son of Paul Cushing and Sarah P. Chase, was born in Millbury, Jan. 13, 1828. His education was received at Mill- bury Academy. He began his business career at the age of nine- teen, as agent of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Georgetown, Mass., of which he was afterward elected a director. In 1848, he became traveling agent for the People's Insurance Company of Worcester, and retained this position until 1852, when he was appointed assistant superintendent of the Central Ohio Railway. He continued in the railroad business until 1860
GENERAL CALEB BURBANK 1761 - 1849
MRS. CALEB BURBANK
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when he returned to his first love, the fire insurance business, becoming the western general agent of the New England Fire Insurance company of Hartford.
In 1863, Mr. Chase became assistant western general agent of the company and it was only four years later that he was offered the presidency of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. He took office in June, 1867, continuing to be president for over forty years, and its remarkable growth and prosperity under his admin- istration are well known. Since President Chase assumed its management, the company has experienced some extremely dis- astrous conflagrations, notably those in Chicago, in Boston, in Baltimore and in San Francisco.
In the administration of the affairs of his company Mr. Chase was always progressive, even in office details. He was the first to suggest the use of the telephone for communication with other local fire insurance offices, and the Hartford, the Phoenix, and the Aetna offices had such communication at an early date constituting what was really the introduction of the telephone service into the city of Hartford. The Hartford company was also a pioneer in the employment of stenographers, and in the use of the typewritten letter.
He was elected president of the National board of fire under- writers, and he has been prominent in the work of its committees.
Mr. Chase's business activity was not wholly confined to the company of which he was president, nor to the insurance field. His counsel was sought in other places in which sound judgment is valued. At the time of his death, he was a vice-president of the Society for Savings, a trustee of the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit company, and a director of the American National Bank of Hartford, Conn.
Mr. Chase was a prominent Congregationalist, and was several times elected president of the Connecticut Congregational club. He died at Hartford, Conn., Jan. 7, 1908. Soon after his death, his son, Charles E. Chase, was advanced from the office of first vice-president to that of president, but because of ill health Mr. Charles E. Chase resigned from the presidency of the company, Aug. 6, 1913. He was, however, subsequently elected to the chair- manship of the Board of Directors, a new office.
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SAMUEL CHASE
Samuel Chase, son of Daniel and Sarah March Chase, was born Sept. 28, 1707, at Newbury, Mass. After spending parts of two years at Littleton, Mass., about 1733 he came with his father who was known as "miller" Chase to that part of Sutton which includes the present town of Millbury. The father owned a mill that was located at the place now called "Pleasant Falls" on the Blackstone or, as it was then called, the Half Way River.
Before his majority, he married, first, in May, 1728, Mary Dud- ley. At Pleasant Falls, for a number of years he also owned one half of a saw mill, with the dam, privilege of the water, etc. In December, 1740, he, in company with Francis Dudley, Perez Rice, Samuel Barton and Benjamin Morse, for 100 pounds, bought five-sixths of five acres of land of Benjamin Gowing on "Halfway" River, with the privilege of the river for building of dams and for flowing, as they should see fit. This was the water privilege in "Armory Village" on the old Armory site, and its first occupancy. He seems to have been an active member of the Company. In November, 1742, he had a house on the land and he made an additional purchase of three acres in his own name. He helped to establish the first industry at this place, an iron refinery, which is mentioned at this time. In 1878 he sold his interest in this busi- ness to John Hazeltine.
About 1765, he moved to Cornish, New Hampshire, for, in 1767, he is mentioned among the town officers as selectman.
He was later commissioned as a magistrate and was judge of the court of common pleas "for ye County of Cheshire." His son, Dudley, was the father of Bishop Philander Chase and grand- father of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. Gen. Jonathan Chase of New Hampshire, the assistant of Brig .- Gen. Stark in the Revo- lution, was his son, to whom General Stark gives the credit for practically fighting the campaign in the Revolution, which brought about the surrender of the British Army at Saratoga.
Judge Chase was the leading man of his time in Cornish, and many of his descendants have since been prominent. He died in Cornish, N. H., at the age of 93 years.
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MICHAEL COOGAN
Michael Coogan was born in Ireland where he was trained to be a gardener, but as a young man he emigrated to America and came to Millbury. He worked at first for the Waters and Goodell Company when their mill was built at Bramanville. He after- ward purchased from this company a small mill at Pleasant Falls, on the road to Wilkinsonville, where he worked on shoddy. In 1850, a little below the Greenwood Crossing on North Main St., he built a small mill which later became known as the "Burling Mill." The last years of his life were spent with his adopted daughter, Mrs. Callahan, on the Grafton Road, near the County Bridge.
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